[AT] Ebay question (fork lift) also Potato Digger comments

[Grant Brians]

Farmer, in our area I would define four categories of forklifts, only three 
of which would likely be present there in Indiana in your area.
    First are the warehouse forklifts, usually with non-pneumatic tires. As 
you note these are useless for most farm applications because of their 
absolute need for a dry concrete or asphalt surface to operate on.
    Second are the orchard forklift conversions, I seriously doubt these are 
present there. these are typically 1 ton truck chassis from the 30's to 50's 
which are home or shop converted to forklift duty and usually the cab is 
chopped up or removed. They were created to allow the fruit harvests of the 
Santa Clara Valley to proceed more efficiently by palletizing bozes and bins 
of fruit in the orchard. I have one of these I traded for. Probably not the 
best tool for a snowy place.
    Third are the pneumatic tire "ordinary forklifts", varying from 
warehouse to ultra heavy duty types. These work very well in dry conditions 
and are really useful on even ground and paved surfaces. We have a nominal 
4000# capacity shop made one of these with an old Chrysler flathead 6 
industrial engine. It works well up to the point the forks start to bend and 
will handle at least 6000# on flat not wet conditions. These are great with 
those limitations and bearing in mind that the bigger the tires, the better 
for most conditions....
    Fourth are the field forklifts, which are either converted tractors or 
those bizarre material lifts with four wheel drive. Both are usually 
expensive, but sometimes an old Ford 8N class tractor conversion is cheaply 
available. These are the best for rough and wet conditions, but costly in 
general while extremely useful and the best for a farm. I would love to have 
one of these too!

    On  the subject of potato diggers, I have good news for the list. A 
friend is letting me use his for the forseeable future! This saves me both 
the cost of acquisition for the time being and also the cost and hassle of 
finding and getting one. So, I will keep the eyes open for one for myself, 
but it will go on the back burner. I will be planting the first 5-10 acres 
of potatoes next week of the season. Yes, we have a definite "California" 
climate here.... As far as your finding one, Lew, best of luck as I have 
certainly had challenges finding one for myself!
    I would love to have a potato cutter to save the hand labor, but that 
also will have to wait until one drops into my lap. LOL. I need to find a 
root washer next and that is REALLY important to my farm profitability. I 
think I will find one within 100 miles or so though.
        Grant Brians
        Hollister, California
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lew Best" <bee_keeper at earthlink.net>
To: "'Antique tractor email discussion group'" 
<at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2006 5:48 PM
Subject: RE: [AT] Ebay question (fork lift)


> While we're on forklifts I have a 6k pound Clark with warehouse (solid)
> tires I'd sure like to sell, trade, whatever.  It's an oldie; ran good
> couple of years ago when I quit using it; probably have to do a little
> tinkering to let you hear it run.  I'll sell it, trade it, just don't
> need it & wouldn't want to haul it very far as I think it's a little
> heavy for my trailer (been told it weighs probably about 9-10k; trailer
> rated for 10k gross; weighs bout 23-2400 empty).
>
> I've been watching for potato diggers on EBay; one on now that's pretty
> cheap but bout 900 miles away!  :(  anyway, if someone has something
> they'd trade for the forklift please get in touch!  Might trade it for
> most anything I could use, sell, trade, etc.
>
> BTW on EBay you can just search forklift & there's a column on the left
> side of the page that you can select categories; just click on business
> & industrial, etc. to eliminate the toys.  Also sometimes something
> shows up using fork lift.
>
> Lew Best near Waco, TX
> List owner of the following swap lists you might be interested in
> HYPERLINK
> "mailto:beekeeping_exchange-subscribe at yahoogroups.com"beekeeping_exchang
> e-subscribe at yahoogroups.com
> HYPERLINK
> "mailto:homestead_small_farming_exchange-subscribe at yahoogroups.com"homes
> tead_small_farming_exchange-subscribe at yahoogroups.com
> HYPERLINK
> "mailto:shop_tool_exchange-subscribe at yahoogroups.com"shop_tool_exchange-
> subscribe at yahoogroups.com
>
>
>
> -- 
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 267.14.25/247 - Release Date:
> 1/31/2006
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>